“No.” Rafe picked up his pace.
“Fine then, we’ll have to skip the drawing. I’ll get a paper published, even without sketches. This is a scientific age, Rafe. We are discovering wonders all the time that tell us more about God’s creation.” She stumbled.
He caught her before she pitched facedown onto the stony surface of God’s creation. “You can’t even walk in the woods; down in that cavern you’ll fall into a hole and die.”
“I need to go back to the cabin, Rafe. Audra might be awake by now.”
“We’re not going to find anything.” Rafe combed through his hair with one hand. “Maybe Ethan had better luck. Let’s go.”
They started back. The oak and pine were so dense it was hard to walk side by side.
Rafe didn’t like her lagging behind or getting ahead, though, so he did his best to stay close.
Jumbled rocks were scattered everywhere, and Rafe knew if they went very far to the west they’d come to that same stream, cutting them off. The stream had cut a deep, narrow canyon. He suspected an avalanche had broken down the side of the canyon and left those stones Julia crossed. Rafe hadn’t considered trying to cross up here for years. There was a much easier ford a few miles to the north of his cabin. That winding route was what made Rawhide such a long trip.
Julia kept yammering about fossils while Rafe watched the ground for something that might’ve gotten here a lot more recently, like a killer.
“We’re almost to the spot we split from Ethan. Wonder how far he’s gone.”
“I can see the entrance to the cavern,” Julia said.
He saw tracks. “We’re here. Let’s give Ethan a few minutes to show up.”
A gunshot cut through the quiet forest.
Ethan came to a sharp drop-off where the stream had cut a gully fifty feet deep. He skidded to a halt, glad he wasn’t moving fast, or he’d have pitched over the edge. His attention was drawn across the gully. A man vanished into the woods on the far side. And he saw something else. Something he’d never seen before, nor thought of.
He fired his gun to signal Rafe and rushed toward the swaying rope that dangled over the rushing water. It was tied to an overhead limb that stuck out so far it nearly spanned the gorge.
Considering the situation for only a moment, he started climbing.
He’d definitely heard that twig snap on this side of the stream and now that man was on the other side. And this rope was swaying more than could be explained by the wind. That man had gotten across using it. And if he could do it, so could Ethan.
He shinnied out on the branch until he reached the rope. He was all the way out, looking down in the white water of the stream, twisting and dancing over rocks. Well, it was caverns Ethan didn’t like. A rushing stream lined by stony cliffs didn’t bother him all that much.
He grabbed the rope, scrambled backward, and climbed down.
“Rafe, where are you?” He yelled just because it seemed like the kind of time when a man oughta do a little yelling.
He thought of Rafe, Julia, and himself on this side of the gully, while the man who’d very likely left Julia in the cavern was on Audra’s side of the gully, and not that far from her cabin.
Steele was there and he was a solid hand. But was Steele properly on the lookout? Might Audra have gotten up and taken Maggie outside?
Ethan dismissed the idea of waiting for Rafe. All he’d do is order Ethan to watch over Julia and get to Audra.
Left behind with the women and children and invalids.
That didn’t suit Ethan one bit.
He got to the ground, held that long rope in his hands, and looked at the far side of the stream, then took another hard look at the water rushing at the bottom of the gully. He drew his gun and shot off another round. Jerked hard on the rope to make sure it was solid, then quit lollygagging. Jamming his gun into the holster, he flipped the loop through the trigger to tie the gun down, tested the rope one more time and adjusted his hold, then took a running start and swung out into midair.
A shout escaped his lips as he sailed through the air. Part terror, part pure joy.
The rope was longer than he’d reckoned it’d be and he swung down a long way toward the water, then swooshing up, he soared far and high. He reached the end of the long swinging arc and began going backward. Against every speck of common sense he possessed, he let go and hoped he hadn’t held on too long.
If he’d picked the wrong moment, then he’d have time to regret it. It was a long way to the water and the jagged rocks below its surface.
“That’s Ethan screaming.” Rafe didn’t let go of Julia, but he picked up his speed—not easy in the thick undergrowth.
The woods thinned. He emerged from the forest right on the edge of a cliff. Skidding, Rafe grabbed Julia and threw her down on the ground. The leaves and sticks and stone poked and scratched at him as he slammed into the ground. He did his best to protect Julia from their sharp edges. They stopped in time. He started to sit up and saw his legs dangling over the cliff.
Scooting backward, with his grip still ironhard on Julia’s arm. He saw movement and something hit him in the face. Looking around for whoever had done the shooting and whatever had made Ethan scream, he saw a rope swinging past his face, then swoosh back toward the gorge.
Following it with his eyes, he looked across the stream to see Ethan picking himself up off the ground.
Ethan wasn’t that far away, but he might as well have been in another state. He’d gotten over there . . . Rafe saw that swinging rope and shook his head.
Ethan turned to Rafe and raised a hand to his mouth. “Get back to the cabin. I saw a man. He could be heading there. I’ll try and catch him from this direction.”
Ethan whirled and ran into the woods and was gone before Rafe could say a word.
Rafe’s heart was still pounding hard from nearly pitching over the cliff. Hot blood raced to the coldest part of himself, and it was a fight to stay in control.
“Let’s go.” Julia jumped to her feet and ran back in the direction they’d come—only she picked wrong and headed north instead of south.
With a sigh, Rafe caught her and dragged her around. “This way.”
She trusted him apparently, because she was soon leading in that direction. But Rafe put on more speed, tripping and dodging around fallen trees and limbs, boulders, and ditches. He reached the trail and sprinted toward the crossing.
They were down that gully and back up, and running down the trail toward the cabin without saying a word. They rounded to the front door just as Audra stepped outside holding Maggie.
“Oh, there you are.” She smiled, all calm and a bit puffy-eyed from sleep. Not in danger at all. “That man doctoring Wendell wants to talk to you, Rafe. He won’t let me stay.”
With a heaved breath of relief, Rafe felt a tug on his arm and realized he was still holding tight to Julia’s hand. He had to have let her go when they went down the steepest part of the gully but must’ve caught hold again without noticing.
Strange how easy it was to hold Julia’s hand.
“I’ll go.” Then he thought of what Steele might want him to do. Torn about leaving the women outside or letting them come in and hear an ugly conversation, he scanned the area and made a decision. “You two stay close to the house.” He did his best to singe Julia with a look, and he could see she understood his worry. “Pay attention. If you see or hear anything that worries you, get inside. Keep an eye out for Ethan.”
She nodded. “We’ll stay close.”
Rafe gritted his teeth and went inside.
“I should be in there.” Audra took one step toward the cabin.
“I don’t want you to see what they might do.” Julia didn’t want to see it either, but she’d do what needed doing. Julia’s heart still pounded from fright and from their long, desperate run. And now here she stood, everything fine. But Ethan was out there chasing a man. It had to be the one who had frightened her and left her stranded in the cavern.
; “You can’t protect me from everything, Julia.”
“I know.” Julia respected Audra’s heart and knew she was a smart woman, but she wasn’t tough and she wasn’t decisive. Audra needed someone to be in charge. “But it would be a terrible thing to see.”
Audra gave Maggie an absent kiss on the head. “Talking about it does no one any good, so let’s don’t.”
Julia was used to Audra’s way of dealing with the world. Remain calm. Keep the peace. Respond to wrath with a soft word. Very biblical. Very different from how Julia attacked life. Of course, Julia had taken a lot of long walks to keep the peace, too.
“Why are you breathing so hard? What happened?”
Julia explained quickly while she waited for her father to start screaming.
There was only silence.
“Shouldn’t Ethan be back by now?”
“Not if he’s trailing the man. Did I tell you that Ethan’s been gone for years?”
Audra arched a brow. “Too much has been going on to even think about Rafe and his brother, beyond being grateful for their help. I don’t know a thing about them.”
“Ethan returned home last night. Things aren’t easy between him and Rafe. And there’s another brother who fought in the war.” Julia told Audra what she knew about Seth.
“Our family needing so much help couldn’t have come at a worse time.” Julia shook her head, and a red curl whacked her in the face.
Audra reached up and plucked a twig out of her hair and held it up so Julia could see it. “You’ve got leaves, too. You need to go change your dress and clean up. What a day.”
Maggie started to wiggle, and Audra put her down so the little one could toddle around.
Rafe came back out shaking his head. “The infection’s spread too far.”
“We already knew that.” But it still hit Julia. Hard. She’d been coiled up tight, bracing herself for the screams. Then nothing. Now this death sentence. She thought of the times she’d walked away from arguments with her father to keep the peace. These days it was for Audra’s sake, and Maggie’s, but she’d always done it, even as a young girl. Solved her problems by taking long walks. Her feet itched right now to walk away and find just a few minutes of peace—and distance—and loneliness.
She had lived so much of her life alone, she wondered if she’d ever truly be comfortable with people close at hand all the time.
“I hoped there was something . . .” Rafe sounded like he pitied them. Julia didn’t like the pity. She’d received a fair amount of it over the years when schoolteachers asked about her parents and neighbors worried over her father being away so much. She’d become more and more guarded about her living situation to avoid that pity. In these circumstances, she understood how Rafe felt, but she couldn’t help but want to escape it.
Rafe went on in his gentle tones, completely at odds with his usual take-control bossiness. “I hoped maybe Steele would know some medicine to draw out the poison.”
Maggie gave a happy squeal, then ran toward Rafe on wobbly legs and slammed into his knees. Rafe gave her a faint smile, reached down to steady her when she’d have sat down hard. He ran a big hand over the girl’s head in a way that made Julia’s heart clutch. Had her father ever touched her so gently?
“So you won’t even try . . . what you—” Audra cleared her throat—“planned to try?” Her jaw was clenched so tightly, she could barely speak.
“Steele says no. Wouldn’t do any good to . . . to . . .” Rafe hoisted Maggie into his arms and was silent for too long. “No sense putting him through it.”
Audra closed her eyes and rested a slender hand on her stomach. “I have to go to him. Make sure he’s comfortable. Try and pray with him. I’m sorely afraid my husband isn’t ready to meet his Maker.”
“Julia wasn’t real sure when the baby would come. Do you know?” Rafe’s question stopped Audra.
Steele came out just as Rafe asked. Julia knew how shy Audra was. She wouldn’t want to speak of such things in front of strange men, however kind and helpful they’d been. And she’d already told Rafe enough.
Julia opened her mouth to take over.
“I’ve got . . . um, a month or . . . well . . . I’m not positive.” Pink colored Audra’s cheeks. “The usual . . . signs . . .” The pink darkened. “It’s hard to judge.”
She fell silent, as if speaking exhausted her.
“I wish we could ride out of here.” Rafe looked at the trail that led down the mountain to Rawhide. “Wendell’s got a horse. We could get you to town, but there’s no doctor and no fit place for you to stay. Or we could get you across that creek and come with a wagon most of the way to give you a ride to our ranch.”
He looked around as if prepared to take charge of everything.
Julia bristled. “Do we dare to move Father?”
Rafe hesitated.
Steele said, “Moving won’t make his condition worse, miss. He can’t get much worse.”
Audra inhaled suddenly.
“But it will be painful for him.” Rafe spoke quickly. Julia suspected he did it to head off tears. “So we’ll wait.”
Until he dies. Rafe didn’t say that out loud, but Julia got the message.
“I’ll get some wood chopped, then haul water. Ethan spotted a man in the woods. He’s on his trail. Steele, can you take Wendell’s horse down the trail toward Rawhide for just a little ways. Ethan was heading in the right direction to cross the trail. See if you can find him and give him a hand if he needs it.”
“Sure, boss.” Steele pulled on his gloves.
“If he doesn’t turn up soon, we’ll have to get serious about hunting him. And I want you back at the ranch soon. I need someone in charge. I may be out here a while.”
“I can keep the place running for however long it takes.” Steele headed for the horse picketed down the trail on a grassy slope.
Rafe turned to look between Julia and Audra and opened his mouth.
“Are you preparing to give us orders, too?” Julia braced herself. “Maybe you’d like to put the baby to work.”
“We’ll need an evening meal.” His eyes shifted between her and Audra, and she knew he was deciding which one of them to assign that chore to. She couldn’t stand it. She just needed a few minutes.
“Audra and I know full well what needs to be done around here.” She put enough starch in her words to make sure Rafe knew he wasn’t the only one who could give orders. Then she closed the few feet between her and the man who was acting like the crowned king of the Gilliland home.
“But I need a few minutes alone.” She cut her gaze to Audra. “I need time. To pray. To walk.”
“I’ll go along,” Rafe said.
“No. Alone, I said. We’ve got time before I need to start cooking. Just watch Maggie for a few minutes while Audra sits with Father. Then I’ll be back to take the baby, tend Father, and see to a meal.”
Steele came riding up the trail from the corral with Father’s horse. The grizzled old man turned to head downhill again toward Rawhide.
Rafe looked doubtful. Like he was afraid she couldn’t walk unaided. He pointed to several packs Julia hadn’t noticed by the door. “Ethan brought some supplies. I haven’t looked at ’em, but Ethan will’ve brought plenty of food.”
Julia set a hand on Audra’s back. “Will you be all right for just a little while?”
“Yes, you go. Get away from here. Clear your head. Pray, cry if you can.”
Audra knew her so well.
“Did you get any sleep last night?”
“I’ve already had a nap. I don’t need another.” Audra’s cheeks, fiery red when she’d talked about her baby being birthed, had faded to milk white, but she looked determined.
“Before I go, I’ll get a chair set up in Father’s room and you can sit with him.” They headed inside. Julia pointedly ignored the tyrant in front of her cabin.
Audra trailed after her. “Maybe he’s beyond our help, but he’s not beyond God’s. I’m goin
g to go care for him with hot water and prayers.”
Audra’s words were calm, but Julia heard exhaustion. “I won’t be gone long.” Julia picked up the canvas bags of supplies as they entered the house. Neither of them had taken the news about Father’s death very hard. It was a sad testimony to a man’s life. She helped get Audra settled in a chair by Father’s side and stepped outside to see that stubborn mule of a Kincaid standing in her way.
“I don’t like you going off alone, Julia.”
“I’ll just go along the trail your foreman just came on from the corral. It can’t be dangerous. Just, please, Rafe. A few minutes is all I need.”
He didn’t like it, that was plain as day, but he let her go.
He’d been in the dark for so long. How long? A week? A month? He’d gotten so used to it, he’d forgotten there was light.
He moved well in the dark, as if blindness were his natural state. His childhood had prepared him for this cavern.
Touching the scars was a reminder.
Now he spied on Wendell Gilliland’s house and watched and waited.
Slipping from rock to rock. Hiding in the shadows, he saw no sign of Gilliland. Better anyway to take one of the women. Hold her until he could force Gilliland to talk. He preferred the redhead. The blonde, far gone with a child, would be too much trouble.
But the redhead would be tough enough to not collapse when he pulled her down into that cavern. He didn’t want her hurt. He just needed her to get Gilliland’s cooperation.
He crawled up, over the lip of a ledge near the corral to see the redhead walk straight for the place he hid. He slid his gun out. One blow to the head and she’d be silent. He’d take her away, hide her in the dark.
She strode along, dressed in green, which made her hair seem vividly red by contrast. He crouched, ready to spring. She got closer and he heard her muttering. Then closer still, and he heard prayer.
“Hold my father in the palm of your hand. Save his soul, Lord. Bless him, forgive him.”
He coiled to lunge, but . . . he couldn’t. It was as if her words were ice and they froze him, crouched low, like he was cringing before God.
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